As we have seen in the principles of creation, one cannot have the action of give-and-take of love without a mate. By the same token, God had to lay a foundation on earth in order to operate the providence of restoration. In other words, for the Divine action of give-and-take, God had to find a man with whom He could work. Without obtaining a man, it is impossible for God to carry on His providence. To lay this foundation, it took two thousand years from Adam to Abraham.

The Divine ideal of creation was to establish the heavenly Unit of the Four Directions -- east, west, south, and north -- consisting of God, Adam, Eve, and their children. To make the position of a spirit-man, the four directions of the spiritual world must be assured first. The status and relations of members of a family cannot be decided until the basic relations, husband and wife, parents and children, come into being. Hence number Four symbolizes a heavenly unit of God's kingdom, accordingly it becomes the base of the existence of all beings.

Because of the fall, however, a unit was made with Satan instead of God, accordingly the Satanic unit of the four directions, and thus the whole of mankind became Satanic descendants subjected to his dominion. God's providence, therefore, has been aiming at the restoration of the heavenly unit of the four positions. Hence number Four and its multiples, forty, four hundred, and sixteen hundred have been related to the periods by which the providence of restoration developed. For example, forty days flood judgment of Noah's time, sixteen hundred years period from Adam to Noah, four hundred years from Noah to Abraham, four hundred years of Israel slavery in Egypt, Moses' forty years in Egyptian palace, forty years in Midian, forty years in the wilderness leading his people into Canaan, forty days fast and prayer on Mount Sinai, forty days spying out Jerico, four hundred years period of judges, forty years reign each of Saul, David, and Solomon, Elijah's forty days of prayer on Mount Horeb, forty days fast and prayer of Jesus, forty days after the resurrection, four thousand years from Adam to Jesus, forty days after the resurrection, four thousand years from Adam to Jesus, forty generations from Abraham to Jesus.

In the course of restoration of the number Four, God does not carry out His providence arbitrarily but follows the law of INDEMNITY. What is the law of indemnity? In translating the Korean word "TANGGAM", I have chosen the word "indemnity", although it is not quite adequate. The word Tanggam means that because of inability, one pays back only a portion of a debt and has the remainder wiped out. Since man had sinned against God, his original and intrinsic value was lost. It is utterly impossible for this depraved and disabled man to restore his original and intrinsic value by his own power. In other words, it is impossible for the fallen man to make indemnity by his own efforts for the debt he owes God; and yet man must restore his original value and thus be recognized by God as if he had not fallen. Therefore God makes certain concessions for man which result in man's compensating for only five or ten percent of the complete debt. If man fulfills these conditions, his debt is completely wiped out, and he is acknowledged by God as if he had not sinned at all. This act is Tanggam.

There is another reason why God follows the law of Tanggam. Through the fall, man was united with and subjected to Satan. Therefore Satan claims man. God, of the Principle and Law acts in accordance with the Divine Principle under any and all conditions, and it is contrary to the Divine Principle to retrieve man from Satan unconditionally. In order to redeem man, therefore, God must institute certain conditions for man which must be fulfilled. In this way, God requires man to liquidate the claims of Satan in order that He may accept man. The word "Indemnity" does not convey all these meanings, however I must use this word until I can find a more adequate one.

The act of indemnity is suggested in many passages of the Scriptures.

Truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny. (Matt. 5:26)

Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold. And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. (Luke19:8)

A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more? Simon answered, " The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more ... Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." (Luke 7:40)

To believe in Christ and to serve him as the Lord makes a condition of indemnity by which God is able to begin the work of salvation. It is plain in these verses that to obtain God's forgiveness of sin, man compensated and fulfilled certain conditions. Because of the law of indemnity, God is not able to forgive man unconditionally.

The law of indemnity is also found in Mosaic Law:

If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eyetooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn f o r burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. (Exodus 21:23-25)

We find in these verses that God demands one hundred percent recompense if it should be done between men, or if a mistake of a ma n should be made indemnity by another man.

Fallen mankind has been rebellious to God throughout a long history. Hence man's course of returning to God cannot be straight and favorable, for man has to trace back the path he had come down. In other words, he gave many sorrows, losses, hardships, and suffering to God all the way, therefore he has to pay in experiencing the same sufferings even in a small way. Thus without man paying the indemnity, God is not able to restore the fallen man. This is not because God is not love, but because He is the God of Principle and Law, or God of justice and righteousness. God is sorry that He is not able to receive fallen mankind without condition. He even suffers in seeing His children suffer to pay indemnity. By man paying his complete indemnity, God is able to restore him, then He will receive man no longer as a sinner or a fallen man but as His flawless child. Such a man Satan can no longer accuse.

In studying the history of the providence of restoration, therefore, we shall find how strictly God has followed the principle of indemnity.

We now have to determine the source for the study of the history of the providence of restoration. The whole of mankind is the object of restoration. But i n order t o restore all mankind, God chose one nation, Israel, as the direct instrument of His providence of restoration, just as He chose one individual, Abraham, in order to restore the nation of Israel. Accordingly the history of Israel written in the Old Testament becomes the source for the study of the history of the Divine providence from Adam to Jesus. Since the resurrection of Jesus, the Christians, whom the Apostle Paul called spiritual Israel, became the immediate object of the Divine providence. Accordingly, the New Testament and the history of Christianity become the source for the study of the history of God's providence from Jesus to the present.

Since we shall use both the Old and New Testaments, we will have to follow the chronology recorded in them. Therefore we shall accept Adam and Eve as the first man and woman who lived six thousand years ago, even though present-day archeologists do not agree with this. Admittedly, some of the chronologies in Genesis may have been symbolical and not literally historical, but by accepting other historical persons and events in the Old Testament as authentic, we cannot completely ignore the chronology in it. Revelations are often given in symbolic ways, and therefore the prehistoric chronology, namely from Adam to Abraham, might have been symbolical. However, we will have to accept it literally as written in the Old Testament as well as the chronology following Abraham -- at least until further revelation sheds more light on this question.

Both man and angels were spiritual entities and were created for eternity. Even after their fall, their depraved spirit-men will remain forever and never perish. Therefore as the Creator of man, God could neither desert nor leave them forever as they were, even though they were entirely responsible for what they had done. Hence God had to restore the depraved men and angels to their original selves of intrinsic value in accordance with the Principle.

Adam and Eve, who had been created only in good, became now a blend of good and evil as the result of their illegal coitus with Satan. Because of this blend of good and evil, neither God nor Satan could possess man completely. Thus Adam was placed in a neutral position, resembling a "buffer zone" between God and Satan. Since man was created in principle to serve one god, he cannot serve two, i.e., both God and Satan thus remaining in a buffer zone. Moreover, because of the love-relation between Lucifer and Eve, Satan also had a condition to claim man, and occupied and dominated him, which was contrary to the Principle. Hence even God, the Creator of man, could not take back the man whom Satan occupied, without setting a condition to Satan. It was not God who should have set a condition, but man. God wanted man to set a condition to Satan. By this condition man had to show his faith in God. This faith had been lost because of the Fall therefore by finding faith in God again, a foundation of restoration could be laid. Then, when Satan found in man the faith, Satan could no longer claim man nor could he occupy man, and therefore, Satan would have to leave man.

In order to make a condition for man, God had him offer sacrifice. If the offering was acceptable to God and man's faith was made visible to God, Satan could no longer c1aim him, and God could accept him. If man's offering was unacceptable to God, due to insufficient faith, Satan could claim and occupy the man.

There have been various means of making conditions. Since the law was given to Moses, observing the law could make the conditions. After the arrival of Jesus, belief in him could make the conditions.

God did not allow Adam to offer sacrifice to make the condition, but did allow both Cain and Abel to bring offerings to Him. Why did God not allow Adam to bring a sacrifice? Because man was created to serve but one God, and should therefore, bring offerings to God alone. However Adam was now in a position where he belonged neither to God nor to Satan. To offer sacrifice to both lords, God and Satan, was against the Principle. In other words, there were both elements, good and evil in one man, Adam, and either God or Satan could claim him.

Therefore in order to belong to God alone, the evil element had to be separated. For those reasons Adam was not qualified to bring an offering to God.

Hence God had Cain and Abel, two sons of Adam, bring offerings. God placed Cain and Abel in two positions, representing Evil and Good, exemplifying the two elements of evil and good in Adam himself. In other words, both Cain and Abel were to bring offerings to God from two opposing positions.

Next it had to be decided by whom Good should be represented and by whom Evil should be represented. Both Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve, and therefore Cain and Abel were also the sons of the fall. There were two basic factors, however, which determined their positions.

The first factor was the fall which was a result of their mother Eve's improper behavior. She had been depraved through two kinds of illegal relations of love. The first relation of love was made with Lucifer against the Divine principle. Thus she and Lucifer committed sin spiritually.

The second relation of love was made with Adam, who, at a later time, could be her spouse, but at the present time coitus was definitely contrary to the Principle. Thus Eve also committed sin physically. Even though both relations of love were immoral, the motivation of the latter was somewhat different from the former. Namely, Eve repented in her heart for the first relation and wished to return to God by relating with Adam; the latter relation could be blessed by God following their perfection. Hence Eve's second relation warranted sympathy, though it was still sin.

Cain was the offspring of Eve's first love, and therefore was placed in the position which represented Eve's first relation of love with Lucifer, namely evil. Abel was the offspring of Eve's second love, and therefore he was placed in the position which represented her second relation of love with Adam. Accordingly a relative good. The motivation of the second relation was not truly bad and worthy of sympathy.

There was another factor in Abel's representation of good and accordingly he took a position close to God; Cain had represented evil and accordingly he took a position close to Satan. Cain was the firstborn, whom God should have taken, but Satan having occupied men claimed the firstborn. This was the reason why second sons and not first sons were blessed in the history of Israel. As an example, the first sons and firstborn of the flocks of Egypt were smitten by death just prior to the Exodus of Israel. God loved Jacob but hated Esau while they were yet in their mother's womb: (Genesis 25:28) When Joseph brought his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim for blessing, Jacob crossed his hands and laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim the younger and his left hand upon the head of Manasseh the elder.(Genesis 48:14-19) In all these cases, the position of first sons represented that of Cain, whereas the position of the second sons represented that of Abel.

It was due to these reasons that Cain and Abel had to bring offerings to God representative of their different positions.

Able was a keeper of sheep; and Cain a tiller of the ground. (Genesis 4:3) Abel brought God an offering of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions, and Cain brought of the fruit of the ground. God had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering had no regard.

It is significant to understand the reason that God had regard for Abel and his offering and no regard for Cain. It was not merely because of the difference of the offerings, but because of the difference of their representative positions. By representing good, Abel was in a close position to God, i.e., Abel had an acceptable condition to God and accordingly also his offering. Cain, however, was in a close position to Satan by representing evil. Therefore he had to establish a specific condition to be accepted by God. What was the condition God wanted Cain to make for both him and his offering to be acceptable. Because of his position, Cain had to approach God through a mediator, Abel, by subjugating himself to Abel and showing love to him. In other words, he was in such a position as he had to establish a condition of indemnity.

What was the condition o f indemnity for Cain to make? The position which Cain represented was that of the fallen Archangel and thus Cain had to make indemnity by tracing back reversely the falling process of Lucifer.

Lucifer had been jealous of Adam and had left his original position in order to dominate Adam. Therefore, conversely, Cain had to show love to Abel in a situation wherein he could be jealous of Abel. Cain also had to subjugate himself to Abel by leaving the position of elder brother and receiving God's favor through Abel. In this way Cain could make indemnity for that which the fallen Archangel had committed and could restore his due position in which he could be accepted by God as much as Abel. This was the condition that God expected Cain to make.. By this condition of indemnity alone, Cain could restore not only his own position but also Adam's family to its original status.

Since the time of Cain and Abel, the same type of relation could be found not only between individuals, but also between families, between churches, between nations, and finally between two ideological blocks, Democracy and Communism. God's will is always visible in these relations as is the Cain-like character which must come to God through the Abel-like character. Therefore the reflection of Cain, who represents all degrees of evil, must be subjugated to the reflection of Abel who represents all degrees of good. In such relations, the people know in their heart who is in Cain's position and who is in Abel's position.

Knowing in his heart what he should have done, Cain could only repeat the fallen act of Lucifer because of his hating and jealousy of Abel and finally Cain killed Abel. Thus by the failure of Cain, God's dispensation with Adam's family was nullified, namely a foundation o f faith could not be laid in Adam's family. Hence a cycle of sixteen hundred years was elapsed until another family was chosen.

Noah was a descendant of Seth, the third son of Adam Seth had been placed in the same position as Abel after Cain had slain him. From Adam to Noah, ten generations -- 1600 years had elapsed. The ten generations and the sixteen hundred years are not accidental or arbitrary periods but carry much symbolical significance in them. What was signified by the ten generations?

Number ten is the total of nine and one; in the number nine the entire period of growth is signified, for the three stages of growth -- Formation, Growth, and Perfection -- are subdivided into nine degrees. After passing through these nine degrees, one can come under God's direct domination: hence in the number ten, "the returning to the One after the attainment of perfect" is signified. Sometimes number ten signifies "the whole". Hence ten generations is a complete spiritual cycle and it had to be spent for a complete separation from Satan. Thus the ten generations prior to Noah were actually taken by Satan.

Sixteen hundred years has the same meaning as sixteen. The number sixteen is the multiple of Four, which symbolizes a unit of four directions, the ultimate purpose of the providence of restoration. By multiplying four by itself, the original number is intensified. It is thus seen that both ten generations and sixteen hundred years signify a complete spiritual cycle. Therefore, after this cycle elapsed, a condition was established whereby. God could begin His dispensation -- in other words, His time was ready. With the fullness of His time, the right person to undertake the Divine work had to be found. God chose Noah, a man of faith, who for one hundred and twenty years worked on and built an ark, thus fully obeying an exceedingly difficult command of God, in a corrupt and faithless world. Noah's great faith made condition for him to undertake God's dispensation.

God chose Noah and his family in order to make indemnity and restore what Adam's family had failed to accomplish. Therefore Noah was now in the place of Adam and, accordingly, the father of mankind. (Genesis 9:7)

In order to carry out the dispensation and lay a foundation of faith through Noah's family, God had to sanctify this family by separating the family from Satan. The separation of Satan was the purpose of the flood-judgment which lasted forty days. Wiping out the sinful world by the flood-judgment, God wanted to lay a foundation through Noah's family for the restoration of the original sinless world. And the sacred number Four was the goal of the restoration. Therefore the forty days of flood was a number to make indemnity and to restore the number four.

The ark of Noah had three decks, as the symbol of a new creation with the three stages of growth. By Noah, Adam was represented as a visible God; by Noah's children, mankind was represented; and by the animals in the ark the whole creation was represented. Hence Noah's activities in the ark at the end of the flood symbolized the Divine activities after the creation. Noah sent forth a raven, which went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. (Genesis 8:6) Then he sent forth a dove three times in three weeks. Finally the third dove did not return, indicating that the waters had receded. Symbolically the raven represents Satan, and the dove represents the Lord. By these acts, the development of the providence of restoration were symbolized, i.e., in the flight of the raven, the act of Lucifer was represented; and the activities of the doves who were sent forth three times represented the act of Adam, the work of Jesus, and the accomplishment of the Lord of the Second Advent.

Having assured that the land was dry, Noah and his family left the ark to begin a new life. Thus the remnant redeemed from the judgment were the eight members of Noah's family, which were equivalent to the basic members of Adam's family who had been lost because of Cain's failure. The eight basic members who had been related to the dispensation with Adam's family were Adam and Eve, their three sons, and their wives. And thus the number eight signifies a new start, for example, after the seven days of creation, another cycle starts on the eighth day. Again the sons of Israel were circumcised on the eighth day after birth signifying a new start as the sons of God. Hence the eight members of Noah's family were a new family with whom a new creation should begin.

Noah now became a tiller of the soil and planted a vineyard; one day he drank too deeply of wine, became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. Ham, his second son, saw the nakedness of his father, and shamefully told his two brothers, Shem and Japheth. They took a garment, laid it upon their shoulders and walked backward and covered their father. (Genesis 9) When Noah awoke from his wine, he realized what Ham had done to him. Noah cursed Ham to be a slave of his brothers. Because of his act, Satan intruded into Noah's family, and the forty days flood-judgment, namely the separation of Satan, now became void; thus God's dispensation with Noah's family was frustrated.

Why did the act of Ham bring such a serious effect on the family? The sense of shame came into being immediately following the fall of Adam and Eve, and it had not existed before. This shame became the abomination of God, and, on the other hand, it created a condition that Satan could claim Ham. This case does not apply to any other people -- only to Noah's family. His family was an alternate for Adam's family and, accordingly, Noah's family had to make the condition of indemnity in order to restore the failure of Adam's family, thus the innocent state which had existed prior to Adam's fall must be restored in Noah's family. In the innocent state of nakedness, Adam committed sin, felt the. sense of shame and lost the innocent state. In order to make a condition of indemnity, Noah's family had to trace back reversely all that Adam's family had done, namely Ham had to pass through a shameful stage without the sense of shame. This was, of course, the test for Noah's family. Ham was a particularly important member in this family, for he was in the place of Abel and therefore had to play the central role in the dispensation with his family. Therefore the test was given to Ham to overcome. However Ham did not pass the test and made a grave mistake. He might not have been aware of all these factors.

The failure of Ham brought about the following results: firstly, the purpose of the forty days judgment, the separation from Satan, became annulled and, therefore, the number forty was lost; secondly, in order to choose Noah, a complete cycle -- ten generations -- had elapsed, and this too was lost; thirdly, the great faith that Noah had demonstrated was lost; and lastly, Ham was lost, who was an alternate for Abel just as Noah was in Adam's place, and God loved Ham most in the family because of his important role. Until these four conditions were recovered God could not start His dispensation again. Therefore in order to make the recovery of the number forty and ten generations at one time, God made human lives short and in four hundred years and ten generations He chose Abraham. The other two conditions were also fulfilled, namely, Abraham was a man of great faith just as was Noah, and the first son of Terah, a dealer of idols whom Satan loved most. God loved second sons, but Satan loved the first sons who were in the same position as Cain. Satan had taken Ham, God's beloved one, Therefore taking the beloved of Satan, God placed Abraham in the position of Ham.

Having chosen Abraham, God now restored the position of Noah, and by extension, also that of Adam. However, from Adam to Abraham two thousand years had elapsed. In other words, in order to lay a foundation of faith, God had lost a two thousand year period. Thus the two thousand years from Adam to Abraham was the period of the establishment of the foundation for the providence of restoration.

God chose Abraham as an alternate for Noah and accordingly Adam. Hence Abraham's mission was to become the father of Israel, that is, the father of faith. If he could fulfill his mission, the descendants of his faith would be multiplied from a family to a tribe, from a tribe to a nation, from a nation to a world. Thus when a solid foundation of faith was laid, God would send the messiah on this foundation through which He would be able to accomplish the restoration of the entire world.

God called out Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans and commanded him to leave his country, kindred, and father's house for the land that God would show. With great faith and obedience, Abraham left the country of idols and went to Canaan with Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his nephew. Since there was a famine, however, they went down to Egypt to sojourn. Before they entered Egypt, Abraham told Sarah to pretend as if she was his sister because of her great beauty. As they entered Egypt, Pharaoh took Sarah into his house because she was so very attractive. But God afflicted Pharaoh's house with a plague because of Sarah. Pharaoh then begged Abraham to leave with Sarah, Lot, and all their goods. This was an act of indemnity that Abraham had to make: Lucifer took Eve while she and Adam were still in the relation of sister and brother; comparably, Abraham and Sarah had to assume the relationship of brother and sister, and in that relation Abraham had to take back Sarah from Pharaoh without being violated because Pharaoh represented the fallen Archangel. By taking back Sarah, Lot, and all the goods, Abraham restored, symbolically, the wife, children and all things that Satan had taken from Adam.

Showing the stars in heaven to Abraham, God promised him:

"So shall your descendants be." And he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. And He said to him, " I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess. "But he said, " O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?"(Genesis 15:5-8)

Abraham asked God what he should do to obtain the blessing. Then God said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. (Genesis 15:9) This was the condition that God wanted Abraham to make in order to fulfill the Divine promise. Abraham now had come to the last step, by fulfilling it he could definitely become the father of faith, the Divine foundation for the providence of restoration. God had been working to lay this foundation for two thousand years.

The three types of sacrifice were symbols which could make the condition for laying the foundation. A turtledove and a young pigeon represented the Formation stage of the restoration: A she-goat and a ram, the Growth stage of restoration; and a heifer, the Perfection stage of restoration.

Let us see how these three types of sacrifice related to the three stages of the providence of restoration. For two thousand years, from Adam to Abraham, God laid a foundation and then His dispensation of restoration started on it. The providence of restoration progressed into three stages: the age of the Old Testament (Formation), the age of the New Testament (Growth), and the age of the Completed Testament (Perfection). The Old Testament Age was completed by the arrival of the Messiah, hence a spiritual dove descended upon him when he was baptized by John the Baptist. (John 1:38) In other words, Jesus was the fulfillment of the dove, the Formation stage of the Divine providence.

When Jesus started his public ministry, the dispensation of the New Testament began. His mission was the Growth stage of God's dispensation. Jesus and the stage of Growth were symbolized by a lamb, hence John the Baptist witnessed to him when Jesus began his ministry and said, "Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. "(John 1:29)

When the Philistines solved Samson's riddle by enticing his wife, Samson said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer you would not have found out my riddle." (Judges 14:18) The heifer in this verse symbolized Samson's wife. In the Perfection Stage which is the Completed Testament Age, mankind will meet the, Lord of the Second Advent in the capacity of his brides, because he will come as the bridegroom -- the heifer signifies the bride and the stage of Perfection. Therefore the last stage of the dispensation is the restoration of the bride-hood, which will be accomplished through the dispensation of the Second Advent.

The dispensation of the Old Testament Age was to raise the status of fallen mankind to the people of God. Hence the relationship between Jehovah and the Hebrews was that of the King and His people or that of the Lord and His servants. In this age the people were not allowed to call the name of "Yahweh" or "Jehovah" nor to see Him face to face.

The dispensation of the New Testament Age was to raise the status of the fallen mankind from that of servants or people to that of the children of God. Hence the relationship between God and His people was that of Father and Son. Hence Jesus introduced the loving Father to mankind. The distance between God and man became shortened. Jesus Christ was the first one who raised man so high that he might be His son. This idea made the conception of God so unique and made Christianity superior to any other religion.

Jesus had, however, an even higher idea than this. He compared himself to the Bridegroom and his followers to his brides. Jesus was the representative of God. Therefore by raising mankind to the status of his bride, Jesus was going to raise mankind so as to the union with God. Thus mankind becomes the perfect object to respond to God the Subject.

Jesus had this idea but could not fulfill it. Hence the dispensation of the Second Advent is to fulfill this ideal, consequently in the perfection stage, which will be accomplished by the Second Advent, mankind will be raised so high as to see God face to face. Therefore those who attain the Perfection state in this new age will be the most blessed ones all through the history. (Rev. 21:2-4)

Thus, by the three kinds of offering, which Abraham was about to bring, the complete process of restoration and, accordingly, the entire creation, including mankind, were represented. Therefore Abraham's offering was a very significant one in the history of God's providence.

And he brought him all these and cut them in two, and laid each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two and when birds o f prey came down upon the carcasses, Abraham drove them away, as the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abraham; and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abraham, "Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years." (Genesis 15:10-13)

According to this passage, Abraham did not cut the sacrificial birds in half. For that reason the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abraham's descendants were doomed to be enslaved four hundred years in Egypt. The single act of Abraham's neglect in the cutting of the birds, caused the people of Israel to undergo bondage for four hundred years.

This reason will now be explained. In order to carry out the providence of restoration, a separation of good and evil, a judgment had to be done. When Adam was invaded by evil, the separation of good and evil in Adam's family was carried out through the offerings of Cain and Abel.

The flood of Noah's day had the same purpose of separation. Through the flood judgment Noah's family was separated from the world of evil.

Abraham's offering had an identical meaning: Cutting the birds in two symbolized first, the separation of all things from Satan and restoring them to God; second, making indemnity for what Cain and Abel had failed to do, i.e., Abraham should have cut his offerings in two, placing one half as Cain's position and the other half as Abel's and third, by cutting the sacrifice, Abraham would have removed Satan's blood from it, for the fall o f man had stained blood. It was for this reason that the sons of Israel had to be circumcised as a symbolical act of removing the stained blood. Thus the cutting of the birds was an absolute necessity and since Abraham did not cut them, God was not able to accept the sacrifice, for they were neither separated from Satan nor sanctified for God. Satan then discovered a condition to take the sacrifice and the birds of prey, who symbolize Satan, came down to the carcasses.

The sacrifice of the dove and pigeon, the representation of Formation Stage, was the foundation for the other two sacrifices which represented the Growth and the Perfection Stages. When the first story of a house is destroyed, the second and third stories upon it are automatically destroyed. Similarly as the foundation became Satan's, the remaining sacrifices were useless and thus the entire offerings were taken by Satan. Thus Abraham failed in this important instance, and, accordingly, the four hundred years spent in choosing Abraham's was also lost. The number four hundred represented the separation of Satan as number forty did. In order to make indemnity and restore the lost four hundred years, the descendants of Abraham had to struggle in the Satanic world for an equal amount of time. And this was the reason why the people of Israel were held in bondage four hundred years.

Abraham's failure was the third one which had prevented the Divine providence from being accomplished. The dispensation of laying a foundation had begun with the offering of Cain and Abel. After their failure, the dispensation was transferred to Noah's family. Because of their failure, God chose Abraham and had him undertake the responsibility as a third attempt. Therefore the dispensation already had passed the stages of Formation and Growth. Because this was the final stage of Perfection, Abraham had to accomplish the dispensation by any means possible for the sake of the Divine Principle.

However, there was another route which Abraham could use in order to have a second opportunity to accomplish the dispensation -- it was with the cooperation of his son, Isaac.

Since Satan had taken the two generations, Adam and Abel, God also had a condition to use the two generations, Abraham and Isaac, for Abraham and Isaac were in the positions of Adam and Abel, in terms of the dispensation.

Therefore God commanded Abraham to offer his only son, Isaac, in order to make indemnity for what he himself had failed in his symbolical offering. Isaac was the son of God's promise, and through Isaac, Abraham's descendants could be multiplied as many as the number of stars. Although Abraham was a man of obedience, this seemed to bean impossible command -- to offer the son of the Divine promise as a burnt offering. But, having realized his grave mistake and the consequent doom of his descendants, Abraham did not hesitate to obey God's orders.

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I. " He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad or do any thing to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."' (Genesis 22:9-12)

God was content to see Abraham's great faith and obedience in the offering of his son. Without killing Isaac, God accepted him as a sanctified offering, separated from Satan.

The angel said, "Now I know that you fear God." In his first offering Abraham did not truly fear God, but in' his second offering he sincerely feared God, since now he had realized his mistake. The words""" Now I know that you fear God" imply a profound expression of the Divine relief.

Isaac was restored by the courageous faith of Abraham. However since the symbolic offering that Abraham had brought to God represented all creation, including mankind, Isaac also was a part of it. And since that offering was taken by Satan, Isaac could not be completely free of Satan's attachment. As long as there was any portion of man which Satan could claim, God's will could not be accomplished with that person. As long as any condition for Satan was left with Isaac, he would stand between God and Satan just as Adam did. Therefore Satan must be separated from Isaac.

For the separation of good and evil of Adam, God gave him two sons, Cain and Abel, and had them bring offerings. Using the same principle, God gave Isaac twins, Esau and Jacob, in order to liquidate the attachment of Satan through their works. Esau the first born was in Cain's position, as well as being the representation of the symbolic offering of Abraham which Satan had taken. Jacob, the second son, was in Abel's position, as well as being the representation of the substantial offering of Abraham (Isaac) which God received. Representing two opposing positions, Esau and Jacob struggled together in their mother's womb. (Genesis 25:22)

God regarded Jacob important as He had Abel but disregarded Esau as He had Cain.

Jacob bought Esau's birthright with bread and pottage of lentils. Having made this condition, Jacob went to Isaac deceptively and took away Esau's blessing. (Genesis 25:27) And now Esau hated Jacob and planned to kill him. Rebecca, their mother, advised Jacob to flee from Esau and sent Jacob to Laban, her brother, in Haran. (Genesis 27:41-45) Jacob worked h a r d for Laban for twenty-one years, and during these years he took wives, begat children, and gathered together much livestock. He finally returned to Canaan, but in his returning, he was still afraid of Esau and sent many gifts ahead to placate him. (Genesis 32:33)

Jacob left alone by the ford of Jabbok, prayed all night that Esau's heart might be moved. In this prayer Jacob wrestled with an angel and prevailed against him. Jacob forced the angel to bless him and received the name, Israel, but the angel touched the hollow o f Jacob's thigh and put it out of joint. This was the final test that Jacob had to overcome to be the father of faith, and since he overcame it, he could now go forward to meet Esau.

Why did the angel have to smite Jacob's thigh? This was an act of indemnity that Jacob had to pay. It has been explained that Abraham's role was equivalent to that of Adam. But because of his failure, the role of Abraham was transferred to Isaac and again to Jacob. And Jacob was now in Adam's position. Therefore, by striking Jacob's thigh, Adam's sin was indemnified by Jacob. Namely Adam committed sin by misusing his thigh, and Jacob had to make indemnity for it. Esau was pleased with the gifts that Jacob brought and welcomed him with love, even though Esau justly could have hated and killed Jacob. In this way Esau obtained God's love and lived in Canaan with God's blessing, whereas Jacob had to labor and suffer for twenty-one years in Haran to obtain the same blessing from God.

Having been in the place of Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob had to make indemnity for what Cain and Abel had failed to do. Esau took the opposite attitude to Cain, and by doing so Esau made indemnity for Cain's failure, and also Esau had Jacob accomplish his role.

What was the role that Jacob had to play? Jacob had to take the birthright and the blessing of the first born from Esau. He had to be cunning in order to accomplish the Divine dispensation. Although Abel was a second son of Adam, God's blessing for the birthright was to Abel for Cain, the elder son, was allied with Satan. By slaying Abel, Cain took from him the heavenly birthright. It was Jacob' s role to restore his heavenly birthright by having Esau subjugated to him. By restoring the heavenly birthright by all means, Jacob after all brought God's blessings not only to himself but to Esau and restored the due positions of Esau and himself. Esau received God's blessing equally with Jacob but without his struggling, whereas Jacob had to earn it by struggling with Satan in Haran.

Jacob was the first man who subjugated Satan and took back the heavenly birthright; thus, for the first time, the foundation of faith was laid in Jacob. This foundation of faith should have been laid by Abraham. But because of his failure in the symbolical offering, the fulfillment of the dispensation was extended to Isaac and finally to Jacob, and it was accomplished through Jacob. God's dispensation with Abraham, therefore, was fulfilled in three generations of his family. This is the reason that when the Israelites prayed, they called God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob instead of simply God of Abraham. The Israelites called their nation the House of Jacob, and not of Abraham, since God's will for Abraham was accomplished in Jacob. (Exodus 19)

Jacob was indebted to his mother, Rebecca, for his success. Rebecca aided Jacob in taking the blessing of Esau and in fleeing to Haran. With out her assistance, Jacob could not have accomplished God's dispensation. This was also the act of making indemnity. The fall of Adam's family began with mother Eve and finished with her son Cain. Thus evil came into the world by the mother and son. Therefore this had to be indemnified and restored through the cooperation of another mother and son -- it was fulfilled by Rebecca and Jacob.

Twelve sons were given to Jacob. What is the significance of Jacob's twelve sons? In order to choose Abraham, t e n generations had elapsed after Noah, but because of Abraham's mistake, the fulfillment was delayed to two more generations, i.e., to Isaac and Jacob. Hence twelve generations had been lost until Jacob finally was able to fulfill God's will. As a condition of the indemnity and restoration of the lost twelve generations, God gave twelve sons to Jacob.

Jacob's beloved son Joseph, was sold to Egypt by his brothers but he succeeded in obtaining the favor of Pharaoh. Then a severe famine came to the land o f Canaan, Jacob went down to Egypt with his sons and reunited with Joseph. Thus the twelve sons and seventy people of the house of Jacob went to Egypt with hire.

Hereafter the four hundred year sojourning of Israel began in Egypt; a new dispensation with Israel started with Jacob, although it was foretold to Abraham. Neither Abraham nor Isaac qualified to start a new dispensation, for Satan was not completely separated from them due to Abraham's failure in his offering.

Jacob was the first individual person who succeeded in restoring the birthright to God and in returning to Canaan with victory over Laban and Esau, who represented Satan and Cain. Hence Jacob was the first person who laid the foundation of faith for which God had been working over two thousand years. In Jacob, God' s dispensation for the establishment of the foundation of restoration was accomplished.

Now Jacob became the father of faith, in whom the positions of Adam and Abel, Noah and Ham, and Abraham were now all restored. Therefore God's blessing for the father of mankind was given to Jacob. The blessing was intended for Adam the first time, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 1:28) Since Adam failed the blessing was shifted to Noah, "God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.' (Genesis 9:1) Noah failed and it was again transferred this time to Abraham, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." (Genesis 15:5) Finally Abraham's blessing was shifted to Jacob, "I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply, a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, I will give the land to your descendants after you." (Genesis 35:9-12) Thus Jacob accomplished an individual restoration, and became the father of faith.

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